Review: Speed Racer

Sound and the Fury

This film has a lot more in common with William Faulkner's classic novel, titled above, than one might expect. However, I doubt that Faulkner would have imagined a duo like the Wachowski brothers helming an adaptation of anything he's written. Truthfully, they probably haven't either. The brothers prefer to work in their highly visualized world in which their imagination can't seem contained. It worked with the first Matrix outing, and for some parts of its successors. In some points of Speed Racer, that style works behind the scenes of some big failures. But, there might be something underneath the slick paint job, and that is a good ride.

Everyone remembers the famous (or infamous) Japanese cartoon that was imported to the United States in the mid '60s. The Wachowskis have now "matrixed" the cheaply made cartoon and have attempted to put a plot behind it. Speed, played by a rather bland Emile Hirsch, is seen as a hyperactive, ADD ridden young boy in his early days who translates that impulsive energy into racing, particularly after his brother Rex was killed in a fatal accident. Speed likes to keep racing in the family, as his Mom (Susan Surandon) and Pops (a wonderfully campy John Goodman) head their clan along with Spritle and the chimp. Then, after a big win at a race, the sponsors try to lure him onto their team, and the CEO of the Royalton Company (Roger Allam, who hammed it up good in the Wachowskis scripted V for Vendetta) sparkles the charm in his eyes before pulling the rug out from under him about the real, dirty side of racing.

What that side is, anybody could care less. The film's plot devices of stock trading, company mergers, fixed races and Korean pop sensation Rain are only there to pad up the films two hour and fifteen minute running time (about forty-five minutes two long). As soon as Allam starts his lecture to Speed about everything, the 10-year-old boys' ears will tune out, along with everyone elses. This story doesn't need exposition after exposition because the source material certainly didn't require that. However, when the film does recognize where it needs to be, in the world of its candy colored visuals and stylized racing scenes, it goes full throttle. I have to hand it to the Wachowskis and their visual effects team for going all out with the effects while not letting the visual style overpower the senses. Every race is an eyeful, but there is never a sense where the computer enhanced features are wearing thin. There is also an added bit of excitement whenever Michael Giaccino's zippy music features an underscoring of the original Speed Racer theme song.

An interesting aspect of the film, and sometimes a very annoying one, is how the Wachowskis' screenplay operates. Much like Faulkner's novel, every scene seems to have no sense of time. It prefers to weave in and out of storylines and subplots as soon as a new thought enters a characters mind. That writing style impresses at first, but quickly gives way when a dragged out second act causes the acting to be sucked out. Hirsch gave an impressive turn last year for Sean Penn's Into the Wild, but his deadpan expressions are too great to ignore. Also, the littlest family member reminds me a little too much of Ron Carey from Mel Brooks's High Anxiety, and the chimp is just as annoying. The script tries hard to make some substance out of this premise, but whether it's the self-congratulating lines of encouragement ("It's art what you do out there") or the very lame jokes ("Ninja? More like a Non-ja!"), it never really succeeds. The vision of the directors overpowers here.

Sometimes an overtly visual style only creates a loud and opinionated atmosphere that just can't be contained on the screen (look to Julie Taymor's Across the Universe as an example), but for some reason, the Wachowskis have found a way to place this style on the screen without losing something in the process. Well, most of the times that happens. Sometimes, the Wachowskis adhere to the phrase "style over substance," where they keep the camera and backgrounds moving continually even during a mundane conversation. Still, everybody tries their best to work within the green screen world while trying to go beyond the Star-Wars-like acting. If your brain switches during any part of this film, you're going to realize that all of this is insane. However, I'd advise you to let the 10-year-old boy out and let him yell, "Go, Speed Racer, Go!" **1/2 / ****; GRADE: B-.